Should I Get Dark Souls I or II?

[Zak757]

Because I'm part of the lowly PC peasant race and can't play Bloodborne (or H.P. Lovecraft, the game) like the PS4 masters, I have to choose a different Souls game to start with. So I reckon I have two options: either Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition, or the DX11 version of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin which is coming out on April 7th. This remastering claims to have improved graphics, sound and performance, new NPC's, all 3 DLC's, new item descriptions, more balanced gameplay, and new matchmaking with up to 6 players.

From what I understand, the consensus is that DS1 has superior atmosphere, level design and lore while DS2 has better gameplay mechanics and online play. Don't just tell me which one to get, but tell me why it's better.

 

[Fat Hippo]

Personally, my main motivation for playing the Souls games is atmosphere and theme, reinforced by the mechanics, which mesh into something unique across all games. For this reason, I really prefer Dark Souls I over II. Not that the sequel is bad by any means, and maybe it would've impressed me more if I had played it first, but large stretches of it just didn't feel as memorable as the areas of the first game.

That being said, DkS II may be slightly more beginner friendly and do a better job of explaining certain mechanics, and could be a better jumping off point in that respect. Hard for me know, since I had already grasped the mechanics through the previous game.

But on the whole, DkS I still rules supreme in my heart, so that's what I will recommend.

 

[King Billi]

Play Dark Souls 1, it is the first game and Dark Souls 2 is its sequel, not a direct sequel of course but still it does allude to events and characters from Dark Souls 1.
Also if you hope to at some point play the next game then it will be much easier to move from DS to DS2 whereas if you play DS2 first then some of its minor mechanical and gameplay improvements may make it harder to shift backward to the controls of the first game, maybe.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Why not both? They're bound to be dirt cheap in the next Steam Summer sale anyway.

Play Dark Souls 1 first, as much of the appeal of Dark Souls II is making the connections and piecing the links between the stories together yourself. Dark Souls 1 is undoubtedly the better game, but II is still very enjoyable as well. Be warned though, some things are tweaked a little from the first to the second, and they can seem downright crippling at first. You'll get used to them over time.

DkS 1's level design is absolutely genius, and there's not much like it in the second one. The world loops around brilliantly, and there are dozens of little things, alternate routes and hidden nooks and crannies you can find. For example, about 75% of one of IMO the hardest areas in the game can be skipped by a couple of precise and tactical drops.

 

[default]

Dark Souls 1 is a far deeper and more satisfying experience, especially if you're just getting into the Souls series. The aesthetics, atmosphere, world, story, and design are all a lot more engaging and sophisticated than what you'll find in DS2.

The combat in DS1 is also a lot faster, more precise and more technical, whereas DS2's combat is smoother and slower. Still both fun, but for their own reasons.

Dark Souls 2 is not a bad game by any means. It's a very good game, but it didn't grasp what made the Souls games so intoxicating, lasting and well-designed (at points) and suffered for it. I get the feeling if you played DS2 first you would be baffled as to why so many people find these games so engaging.


So yeah, DEFINITELY go for Dark Souls 1 first. Don't worry too much about story, it's mostly just pretty cheesy throwbacks in DS2 anyway.

Also be prepared for a harsh learning curve. Dark Souls 1 is legendarily awful at teaching new players how to pick up and play the game.

 

[joest01]

You can't go wrong with either one. If you had a ps3 of course my recommendation would be Demon's Souls, which Bloodborne is also related to the closest.

I didn't particularly like Dark 1, mainly because of a few late game areas that they should have shelved. I guess those that prefer it really dug the interconnected world design, which wasnt there in 2 but didn't need to because you could fast travel from the beginning. Also the lore is a little less convoluted in 1. Plus the Artorias DLC has some of the best bosses in the series. or any series really. And the high points really are high. First arriving in Anor Lando rivaled Columbia in Infinite for me. And O&S are incredible boss designs too (the throne watcher duo in Dark2 is objectively a better fight but I'll admit it's just not as iconic and memorable).

2 on the other hand added dual wielding back. The crafting system was much enhanced and materials much more plentiful. The combat is sharpened. And on average, the bosses are better. ('cept the above mentioned 'ceptions). pvp overall is enhanced here, but proper invasions aren't unlimited, which raises some eyebrows. There is also a kind of a "hard mode" here if you join a certain covenant, which is a first in the series and adds replayability.

So, there. Ultimately it's a question of preference.

 

[hybridial]

I'd say skip both, they're not good games. Buy Apotheon or Aquaria, they're much better, and pretty cheap.

 

[Alma Mare]

Get Dark Souls 1. It's the best one on all accounts. DS2 feels like a fan made tribute that gets everything wrong about the source material. Plays worse, looks worse, fucks up the lore, is 3x times more expensive. Avoid it like the plague.

 

[Monk5127]

Another vote here for Dark Souls 1. Be sure to install DSFix.

 

[crono738]

Get Dark Souls 1. It's the best one on all accounts. DS2 feels like a fan made tribute that gets everything wrong about the source material. Plays worse, looks worse, fucks up the lore, is 3x times more expensive. Avoid it like the plague.

I don't get people who say the second plays worse. Dark Souls 1, coming back to it, just feels so damn clunky when you have such a refined feeling sequel. World and bosses are better in 1 sure, but that don't mean the combat is suddenly better. The more varied weapons, the less useless strength weapons, the dual wielding, the better designed weight systems, the whole damn shabang of Dark Souls 2 is better designed combat wise. And for once, I can hold more then one ring. (Since Havel's was fucking required in 1 for practically every build)

Still think Bloodborne plays a crapton better then both tho. Fucking superb game they've brought out.

I think some of the problems people had with the second one were the wonky hitboxes. Been awhile since I played it so I'm not sure if they've been fixed though.

http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/264t6s/the_actual_truth_about_hitboxes

Truth be told, I preferred DS1 more because of the atmosphere.

 

[GodzillaGuy92]

Definitely the original Dark Souls. I dunno what makes for the general consensus that Dark Souls II has the superior gameplay, what with that being blatantly untrue and all. Of course, even an all-around worse Dark Souls makes for a great gameplay experience, so you're okay going with either of them on that account.

That's the general theme when it comes to Dark Souls II: handling almost every one of its aspects in a manner inferior to that of the first game, but still retaining enough of what was good about them in its predecessor to make for an engrossing experience. The lone exception is the story, which truly is just abysmal even on its own merits (which is a shame, because the first Dark Souls has one of the best stories ever told in a video game if you can heads or tails of it). I don't know how much of your desire to play these games comes from the desire to experience a good story, but if story is something you do care about, some non-spoilery advice. Play the game and talk to NPCs as you normally would, but discount anything they tell you about "past kingdoms rising and falling on this very spot." Depending on how you play, you might get a choice between two endings after you beat the final boss: one by leaving the boss room the way you came, and one by moving further into the room. Choose the one that lets you leave the way you came if you can, and if you can't, just skip the ending cutscene and pretend the game has no ending. It really is that insulting.

 

[loa]

Dark souls 1 hands down.
2 may have more items and ways to play (poison build =P) but 1 gets the world and enemy design right where 2 utterly fails.
That's the thing that will stick with you after you stop playing because at its core, it's an exploration game.

 

[Alma Mare]

Get Dark Souls 1. It's the best one on all accounts. DS2 feels like a fan made tribute that gets everything wrong about the source material. Plays worse, looks worse, fucks up the lore, is 3x times more expensive. Avoid it like the plague.

I don't get people who say the second plays worse. Dark Souls 1, coming back to it, just feels so damn clunky when you have such a refined feeling sequel. World and bosses are better in 1 sure, but that don't mean the combat is suddenly better. The more varied weapons, the less useless strength weapons, the dual wielding, the better designed weight systems, the whole damn shabang of Dark Souls 2 is better designed combat wise. And for once, I can hold more then one ring. (Since Havel's was fucking required in 1 for practically every build)

Still think Bloodborne plays a crapton better then both tho. Fucking superb game they've brought out.

You are free to believe whatever you wish. Dark Souls still has the better gameplay.

I would gladly concede on the point of the weapon variety because I genuinely like some of the stuff they came up with but for me it's negated by the fact that too many weapons share movesets, making them less unique.

That's the shtick for the whole game, though. For each thing that they were on the right track, they fucked up something else. The lore actually has some very interesting things going (Manus shards' embodying a different aspect of humanity, Lucatiel's fight against forgetting herself) but when it comes to tying it up all together, they screwed the pooch. Incredibly hard.

I much prefer the new upgrade system, a lot more streamlined and sensible. Then they kill farming mobs with the incredibly dumb non-respawn system. If, as I suspect, the mob placement accounts for the fact that they are slowly to be killed to the point of no-respawn, then that's a double-dumberino.

 

[GhostHunter]

dark souls 1 because all of its classes and weaponry are viable. It has better characters(NPC) too and no constant traveling back to majula to upgrade. Dark Souls 2 nerffed the shit out of str/faith builds and i haven't played since. you can perma kill enemies and that makes it easier, but you can potentially screw over your PVP stats.

 

[Mister K]

Yes you should. Forget what people say about those games being hard or unfair. Souls games are challenging, no more no less. Everytime you die it's not because the enemy is OP, but because you either came unprepared, or something along the line.

Overall, get DS. It's cheaper and if you'll like it, get DSII.

 

[The Heik]

Yes, the atmosphere I'll give. (well no, I wont, I found none of the games possess a significant atmosphere outside one or two locations each, but its generally the consensus, so I let it slide) But outside the attacks that trigger executions, Dark Souls 2 hitboxs work just as well, if not better, then Dark Souls 1 hitboxs. Sure theres the magnetic enemies, but generally in Dark Souls 1 if the enemy missed without you using invul frames, he looked really, really uncoordinated for a significant threat. Plus it made backstabs less OP, nearly as well balanced as Bloodborne's backstab system.

Sorry to jump into the conversation at mid-point, but did you not look at the reddit page? Because easily half of the attacks shown there are not executions, and yet they're still bullshit hits.

DS2 has some of the most ridiculous hitboxes I've ever seen in a game, and I quite honestly amazed that you're defending it on that account. I mean this is the game where TGL can make an attack in it's front arc yet somehow manage to hit the player who's standing 10 feet behind it, entirely ignoring the fact that it would have had to chop off it's own legs in the process to pull that off.

Also, backstabs not OP? I'm not sure what crowd you're playing with but in my game it has literally become my go-to method for killing anything humanoid in the game A) because is saves on weapon degradation B) because it REALLY helps reduce damage received during crowd control situations and C) because it generally does more damage than any attack, barring the giant club group of weapons (and even those weapons get a huge boost on it)

Heck, even in multiplayer pretty much everybody tries to pull it off because of the damage potential or because the get up animation gives them time to pull off long wind-up magic, the posterboy for this being the Fire Tempest Group of pyromancies

In short:

 

[FluffehFoxEM]

I'd say that the first Dark Souls would probably be the better bet, though I've never played it myself I have watched others play it and I've found that it's just overall more interesting than the other one. That's just my opinion to you and I'd suggest that it'd be best to get the first.

 

[hybridial]

I'd say skip both, they're not good games.

> Goes to thread where the OP asks which game to get, and asks the community to give reasons.
> Said user states both games are bad without explaining why whatsoever.
> SMH

It's as valid a suggestion as playing them, and I only stated what I think of them. I at least did suggest alternatives with some logic to them, games where exploration and atmosphere are just as key, and games that are much better designed as far as I'm concerned.

You want a reason why I say they're bad? Their tedious, repetitive games without good enough combat or RPG elements to make them good ARPGs. I can go into more detail than that but that's definitely outside the scope of this topic. So I'll just reiterate that I made suggestions and maybe the OP can at least take a look at them.

 

[DrOswald]

Dark Souls 1 is the better game, in my opinion.